Slicing machine



Jan. 21, 1936. w 1- Re. 19,830

SLICING MACHINE Original Filed om. 21, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 C72 dz'le'sI: wake:-

INVENTOR A1TORNEY (3. T. WALTER SLICING MACHINE Jan. 21,1936.

Original Filed on. 21, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 '9- 2 :llllls jay-.5

CZar-Zes Z Woifer INVENTOR ag y ew ATTORNEY Jan. 21, 1936. c T, A E Re.19,830

' SLIGING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 21, 1952 4 Sheets-Sheet I5 aIan-alga E lzaz'les Z Walter INVENTOR WlTNkJS ATTORNEY Jan. 21, 1936.

C. T. WALTER SLICING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 21, 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet4 nn-I-imm u.

0 w 4 G fi l V HvE F4"\ 2 sf/f/h i I l {4 o i I Y 2 4 6 8 i Ckrles Z'Wider INVENTOR v 6 WI T n a a s me. 611% ATTORNEY Reissue-d Jan. 21,1936 UNITED STATES SLIClNG Charles T. Walter, Chicago, Ill., assignor toIndustrial Patents Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a. corporation ofDelaware Original No. 1,942,991,

Serial No. 638,945, October 21, 1932. Application for reissue June 5,1935, Serial No. 25,188

13 Claims.

The present invention relates to meat slicing machines and particularlyto such that are useful in the cutting of slabs of bacon into slices.

It furthermore relates to that type of machine in which bacon is fedalong a forward longitudinal path to a continuously moving or operatingknife or cuttername1y, a continuously reciproeating or a continuouslyrotating knife or cutterthat operates in a cutting plane which extendstransversely in respect to the line of feed and from which the slices ofbacon are preferably delivered to the upper lobe or strand of acontinuously moving endless conveyor. The conveyor receives the slicesas delivered from the cutting machine and conducts them away from thesame and preferably the slices are delivered to the conveyor in such amanner that they become assembled on the conveyor in spaced grouparrangement with the slices in each group assembled and arranged in arelative uniform manner in respect to each other.

Another object of the present invention is to construct a machine whichcan be employed with the continuously moving conveyor in a manner toallow the continued operating or reciprocating movements of the knife orcutter but which machine is constructed so that the bacon slabs areprogressively fed in a uniform manner to the knife during a certainperiod or for a certain number of operating or reciprocating movementsof the knife and so that for a certain succeeding period or for acertain number of reciprocating movements of the knife or cutter theslab of bacon is maintained in a retracted position in respect to theknife or cutter, whereby,

as the slicing machine thus normally functions in the manner outlinedthere will be delivered therefrom to the endless conveyor the slices ina manner to effect the spaced group arrangement and slice assemblydesired.

The slicing machine is a power-operated machine and is constructed sothat it has a main frame in respect to which slabs of bacon to be outare fed in a longitudinally extending forward T direction, but so thatit also has a reciprocating cutter or knife that performs the cuttingoperation by movement in a transversely extending cutting plane thatextends substantially at right angles to the line of bacon slab feed,and one object of the invention is to provide or construct such amachine so that it has a bacon slab feeding mechanism which is operatedfrom the same source of power that operates the knife and which isconstructed so as to feed the bacon slabs to and under the cuttinginfluence of the knife during a period when the bacon slab feedingmechanism as a whole is being moved forwardly on and relative to themain frame of the machine, that is forwardly towards the knife but whichfeeding mechanism is constructed so that as a Re. 19,830 PATENT OFFICEMACHINE dated January 9, 1934,

whole it can be moved rearwardly and relative to the main frame, thatis, from or in retracted position in respect to the knife so as to causea cessation for a certain limited number of knife reciprocations of theactual slab slicing or cutting operations.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in theconstruction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafterfully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointedout in the claims hereto appended, it being understood that variouschanges in the form, proportion and minor details of construction,within the scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departingfrom the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Reference will now be made to the drawings constituting a part of thisspecification and in which drawings:-

Fig. 1 is a vertical side elevation of a bacon slicing machine. In thismachine there is shown the usual main frame upon which frame there isprovided means whereby slabs of bacon are supported and fed in a generallongitudinal forward direction towards a cutter that operates in atransversely extending cutting plane. The machine of this figure showsmeans for reciprocating the cutter in said transversely extendingcutting plane and also a receiving table in the form of an endlessconveyor that is arranged to receive the slices of bacon as deliveredthereto as the result of the cutting operation. It is desirable todeliver the slices to the endless conveyor so that it will be assembledin spaced group arrangement. The endless conveyor preferably operates ina continuous uninterrupted manner, and the main feature of the presentinvention revolves about the employment of a positionable main feedingmeans which is movably mounted upon the main frame of the machine. Thismain feeding means is driven from the motor that operates the cutter insuch a manner that for a certain number of cutting operations the mainfeed frame has a general forward movement and for a succeeding certainnumber of cutter reciprocations the main feed frame is moved rearwardlyor is given a retracted position. In the slicing machine shown there isalso provided on the main feed frame what may be termed auxiliaryfeeding members which are arranged to progressively feed slabs of baconin a forward longitudinal direction in reference to the positionablemain frame. In this figure there is shown the arrangement of operativeconnections whereby the several movements just referred to are enabledto be accomplished.

Fig. 2 is a vertical, longitudinally extending sectional view of theslicing machine shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the slicing machine shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fig. 4 is a front elevation, or in other words, is a vertical end viewlooking at the slicing machine towards the cutter or delivery endthereof.

Fig. 5 is a vertical, transverse, sectional view taken as on the planesindicated by the broken line 5-5 of Fig. 2, looking in the direction ofthe arrows.

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view showing the relationship between themotion of the several functional parts of the machine.

Reference will now be made to the drawings in detail. In said drawings,I represents a main frame of the machine to which the various machineelements are attached and by which they are supported. 2 and 3 designatebearings in which there is supported the longitudinally extending mainor crank shaft 4 which drives or reciprocates the knife carrier orcarriage 5 through connecting rod or other suitable driving mechanism as6. The knife carriage or cutter carrier 5 slides on suitable guides and8 which are shown as inclined guide members, and the knife of cutter 9is rigidly attached to the frame of the knife carrier 5.

A fixed member as IIl serves as an anvil upon which the bacon slab as IIis supported and against which it is pressed during the cutting orslicing operation. A conveyor I2, which is in fact an endlesscontinuously operating conveyor, may be of any suitable type such as isprovided by multiple chains or cords and runs over sprockets or pulleysI3. This chain or endless conveyor moves at a constant speed in thedirection indicated by the arrow, and the purpose of this conveyor is toreceive the slices and to carry away the sliced bacon receivedthereupon. The bacon slab as H is firmly held between conveyor orauxiliary chains l4 and I5 which constitute an important part of what issometimes herein referred to as the secondary or auxiliary feedingmechanism. These chains I4 and I5, as will hereinafter more prominentlyappear, are supported or connected either directly or indirectly to amovable main frame or framework 20 of a main feeding member and whichmovable main frame can be positioned towards the cutter and retractedfrom the cutter by mechanism which will be more fully explainedhereinafter. The

conveyor chain I4 is supported at its forward end by a suitable sprocketI6 mounted on shaft I'l. At its opposite end the conveyor chain issupported by a sprocket l8 mounted on shaft I9. These two shafts I! andI9 are in turn mounted on the rigid but movable framework 29 heretoforementioned. This framework or movable frame 20 is provided with suitablebosses such as 2| and 22 which are slidably mounted on parallel guides23 and 24.

By virtue of this mounting conveyor element H can, in effect, move backand forth along and in respect to guides 23 and 24 parallel to itself.Also attached to the sliding frame 20 is the conveyor element I5 orauxiliary feeding member previously referred to. This cohveyor elementor auxiliary feeding element I5 is supported at one end by suitablesprockets 25 mounted on shaft 26 and at its other end by sprockets 21mounted on shafts 28. The driving chain 29 represents a suitable endlesselement which serves as means for driving sprocket 21' on shaft 28. Thisendless chain 29 also passes over sprocket 3|) mounted on shaft 3| whichis rotatably mounted on frame 20, the framework which comprehends thesections 32 and 32 at each side of the chain elements serves to keepshafts 26, 28 and 3| in proper relationship to each other. Shafts l9 and3| should receive their driving power from the same source and must bedriven so as to give the same linear conveyor speed to the conveyors orauxiliary feeding means I4 and I5 and their direction of rotation shouldbe such that the top strand of the conveyor I4 and the bottom strand ofthe conveyor I5 move in the same direction at the same speed. The shaftI9 is driven through a pair of bevel gears 33 and 34, the former ofwhich is mounted on shaft l9 and the latter of which is mounted on shaft35 which is supported by bearings 36 and 31 which are rigidly attachedto the frame 20. The shaft 35 is slidably and rotatably mounted inbearings 58 and 59, and is slidably mounted in conjunction with asprocket wheel 38 through the medium of suitable keys.

The bearings 53 and 59 are on a fixed or stationary section of the frameand consequently this sliding of the shaft 35 in the bearings 53 and 59and also in respect to the gear or sprocket wheel 38 must be provided toallow for the forward and rearward movement'of the frame 20. Through themedium of this mechanism the conveyor shaft |9 can receive a continuousdriving force as it, in effect, slides back and forth along the guides23 and 24 because of the movement imparted to the carriage 20. Thedriving between the shafts I9 and 3| is clearly shown in Fig. l andcomprehends the following mechanism. A bevel gear 34 engages and drivesa bevel gear 33 which in turn drives the shaft 6| through gear 60. Bevelgear 52 in turn drives bevel gear 63, thence shaft 3| and the train ofmechanism previously described with the result that the adjacentcooperating strands of the conveyor members I4 and I5 continuouslytravel in the same general forward direction.

Bearings 58 and 59 as previously indicated, are rigidly attached to thefixed frame 39 which frame in turn also supports shafts 49 and 4| whichin turn carry anauxiliary feeding or endless conveyor means 42. Thepurpose of this auxiliary conveyor is to carry bacon slabs into theregion of the auxiliary feed conveyors l4 and I5. Fig. 1 shows that thisendless conveyor 42 and more particularly the shaft 4| thereof, isdriven from the shaft 35 through the medium of a spur gear 64 which hassliding engagement with a spur gear 65 which is mounted on a shaft 66that is carried in bearings 61 and 68 on the fixed framework.

The shaft 66 operates the worm 65 which in turn meshes with and operatesworm wheel 69 that is on the shaft 4| with the result that the continuedrotative movement of the shaft 35 effects a corresponding continuedrotating movement of the shaft 44 that operates the endless feeding endconveyor 42.

The auxiliary feed conveyor I5 is designed and constructed to apply avertical pressure to the bacon slabs thereby preventing the shifting ormoving of the bacon slabs in relation to the conveying elements l4 andI5 when the bacon slab is in place between them. The movable frame orcarriage member 20 is moved back and forth along its guides under theaction of the cam 43 which is mounted on shaft 44 and which is driven ata uniform velocity by any suitable means as sprocket wheels 45 and chain46. Anti-friction roller 41 rides on cam 43. This roller is rotatablymounted on lever arm 48 which is pivoted at one end to a fixed member49. The other end of this lever is pivotally connected to rod 50 bywhich the lever is connected to a suitable cross member rigidly attachedto the carriage or movable frame 20. This movable frame 2|] because ofthe holding effect of the auxiliary feed members thereupon may beconsidered as the main feeding member because the main control of thebacon slabs to and from cutting position is under the immediate controlof this main frame member 20. A spring 52 acts through yoke orconnecting link 53 to thereby cause the roller 41 to maintain contactwith the cam 43 at all times.

An inspection of Fig. 1 makes it clear that the mechanism just describedis completely driven from the motor M that is mounted on the main frame.This motor M through the medium of chain and spur gearing indicated by Sserves to operate the crank or main shaft 4 previously referred to. Fromthis same motor and through the medium of a second chain and spurgearing as 8' there is provided means whereby from the same motor theshaft 44 can be driven, for example, through the shaft 10 that issupported in bearings II on the main frame. This shaft 10 drives bevelgears 12 and 13, shaft I4 in bearings 15 as clearly shown in Figs. 1, 2,4 and 5. Shaft 14 in turn drivm a gear 16, chain 11, and gear 18 that ison the shaft 44 which drives the cam 43. It will be noted that theendless chain 46 driven from the gear 45 operates to turn a gear 51which is part of a speed reducing mechanism 51 and that this speedreducing mechanism 51 comprehends a sprocket 51 which in turn operatesthe chain 56 and therethrough the sprocket gear 38 and the shaft 35previously described. In this manner all the operative parts of theslicing machine are driven from the motor that is mounted at the top ofthe machine.

If one will now refer to Fig. 6 and bear in mind the constructionpreviously described, he will be able to realize that during the slicingportion of the cycle that the product or slabs of bacon are fed to theknife at a uniform rate of speed so as to obtain slices of uniformthickness. This is shown or indicated by the straight line in Fig. 6marked product. This motion is brought about by a continuous and uniformmotion of the conveyor chains plus a forward motion brought about by theaction of the cam 43 on the main frame 20. These are all straight linemotions and are clearly indicated in Fig. 6. 'At the time the last sliceof a given group is delivered to the receiving and delivering conveyorI2 it is desired to slightly withdraw the bacon slabs from the cuttingplane or cutting zone of the knife and hold the slabs of bacon inretracted or withdrawn required position for a period of time duringwhich the endless receiving and delivering conveyor I2 continues to moveand thus form adjacent groupsof slices. In fact, this main feed frame 20is held in the retracted or required position for a certain number ofknife reclprocations. At the end of this predetermined time or in otherwords, at the end of a certain number of knife rcciprocations, it isdesired to again advance the bacon in the cutting plane of the knife andrepeat the cycle.

Fig. 6 indicates how this is brought about by the positive and negativedisplacements of the movable main feeding frame 20 under the influenceof the cam 43. As previously indicated, applicant has pointed out howfrom the common source the several parts of the machine are operatedsuch as the main drive shaft that operates the cutter and the cam shaft44 that controls the positioning of the movable main feed frame 20 andthe drive shaft 35 that is relied upon to operate some of the endlessconveying and feeding elements with which the machine is provided.

What is claimed is:

1. In a bacon slicing machine, a main frame, a reciprocating cuttercarrying mechanism mounted so that the cutter moves in a transverselyextending cutting plane, means for feeding the bacon slabs along alongitudinally extending path in respect to the cutter, common operatingmeans carried by the frame, means for continuously reciprocating thecutter from and by said common operating means, said feeding meanscomprising a longitudinally movable frame slidably supported on the mainframe, cam mechanism carried by the main frame, means for continuouslyoperating said cam mechanism and by said common operating means, meansunder the control of said cam mechanism for successively positioningsaid longitudinally movable frame, during one period in a forwarddirection relative to the cutter according to a certain number ofreciprocative movements of the cutter and during the next period in areverse direction relative to the cutter for holding in retractedposition in respect to the cutter the movable frame and bacon slabthereupon for a certain number of reciprocative movements of the cutter,feeding means carried by but movable relative to said longitudinallymovable frame and cooperating by engaging slabs of bacon in thecontrolling of the feeding and positioning of the bacon in respect tothe cutter, and means operated by said common operating means forimparting movement to said feeding means on and in respect to saidlongitudinally movable frame, said slicing machine having at thedelivery end thereof a continuously moving receiving conveyor upon whichthe slices severed by the slicing machine are delivered to the endlessconveyor in a manner whereby spaced groups are formed with the slices ineach group arranged in a relatively uniform manner in respect to eachother.

2. In a bacon slicing machine a main frame, a cutter, carrying mechanismfor said cutter, which carrying mechanism is mounted so that the cuttertherefor moves in a transversely extending cutting plane but in ageneral inclined direction in respect to the surface upon which theslabs of bacon are supported while being sliced so as to thereby effecta drawing cutting action as well as a shearing action during the cuttingoperation, means for feeding the bacon slabs along a longitudinallyextending path in respect to the cutter and for supporting a bacon slabin its successive positions for slicing by the cutter, common operatingmeans carried by the frame, means for continuously operating the cuttercarrying mechanism from said common operating means, said feeding meanscomprising a longitudinally movable frame supported on andlongitudinally movable relative to the main frame, cam mechanism carriedby the main frame, means for operating said cam mechanism from saidcommon operating means, means under the control of said cam for, duringone period, progressively positioning the movable frame in alongitudinal forward direction relative to the cutter and according to acertain number of movements ofthe cutter and for, during the succeedingperiod, retracting the movable frame from the cutter according to acertain number of movements of the cutter, auxiliary feeding meanscarried by said longitudinally movable frame, which auxiliary feedingmeans is arranged to engage slabs of bacon and to thus cooperate withthe movable frame in the controlling of the feeding of the bacon slab toand of the positioning of the bacon slab in respect to the cutter, andmeans operated by said common operating means for imparting operativemovement to said auxiliary feeding means, said machine having at thedelivery end thereof a continuously moving receiving conveyor upon whichthe slices as severed by the cutter are delivered to the endlessconveyor in a manner whereby spaced groups of bacon slices are assembledon the conveyor.

3. In a slicing machine, a main frame, a cutter, carrying mechanism forthe cutter, which carrying mechanism is mounted on the frame and isoperated so that the cutter thereupon moves in a transversely extendingcutting plane, means for feeding the bacon slabs along a longitudinallyextending path in respect to the cutter, common operating means carriedby the frame, means for operating the cutter carrying mechanism fromsaid common operating means, said bacon slab feeding means comprising amovable frame supported on the main frame so that it can movelongitudinally in respect to the cutter, mechanism operated from saidcommon operating means for, at one period, positioning the movable framein a longitudinal direction toward the cutter and for, at a succeedingperiod, positioning the movable frame from the cutter, an auxiliaryfeeding means carried by said movable frame, and means operated by saidcommon operating means for imparting movement to said auxiliary feedingmeans, whereby the latter can effect a feeding action that supplementsthe feeding action efiected as the result of the positioning of themovable frame towards the cutter.

4. In combination a uniformly and longitudinally movable receivingconveyor, and a meat slicing machine having suitable mechanism foroperating the hereinafter recited parts in the manner specified; whichsaid slicing machine has a continuously actuated transversely extendingcutter normally operated in synchronized relation with respect to saidconveyor and adapted to normally successively deliver slices of materialas severed thereby to and upon said conveyor and in overlappingrelationship in respect toeach other, said slicing machine havingfeeding means operable over and above a longitudinally extending pathfor feeding slabs of meat to be sliced longitudinally to and under theshearing influence of said cutter, means for imparting successive normalforward longitudinal feeding movements of said feeding means above saidlongitudinally extending path, each of which normal forward feedingmovements thereby imparted to the feeding means is in synchronism withthe movements of the cutter and the receiving conveyor, and meansincluding a continuously rotating cam from which there is positivelyensured a periodic non-cutting interruption of the normal forward feedof the feeding means between the successive normal forward feedingmovement of said feeding means towards said cutter, each of which saidperiodic interruptions is for sumcient length of time to ensure that aspace is left on the receiving conveyor between the last slice deliveredthereto preceding the interruption and the first slice delivered theretofollowing the interruption of the normal forward feed.

5. In combination a uniformly longitudinally movable receiving conveyor,and a meat slicing machine having suitable mechanism for operating thehereinafter recited parts in the manner specified; which said slicingmachine has a continuously actuated transversely extending cutternormally operated in synchronized relation with respect to said conveyorand adapted to successively deliver as transversely severed by ashearing action of the cutter slices of material to and upon saidconveyor and in overlapping relationship in respect to each other, saidslicing machine having feeding means forwardly movable over and along alongitudinally extending path and constructed so as to feed slabs ofmeat to be sliced longitudinally to and under the shearing influence ofsaid cutter, means for imparting successive periodic normal forwardlongitudinal feeding movement to said feeding means between each ofwhich normal forward feeding movements there is a non-cutting periodduring which the normal forward feed is positively interrupted, whichnormal forward feeding movement thereby imparted to the feeding means isin synchronism with the movements of the cutter and the receivingconveyor, which said feeding means includes a continuous actuated camfrom and by which there is functionally controlled means for positivelyeffecting the periodic interrupting of the normal forward feed of saidfeeding means towards said cutter and for a sufficient length of time toensure that a space is provided on the receiving conveyor between thelast slice delivered thereto preceding the interruption and the firstslice delivered thereto following the interrupting with the result thatthe slices on the receiving conveyor are in grouped arrangement, andmeans for effecting relative movement in a longitudinal direction andaway from each other as between the cutter and the feeding means inorder to ensure a longitudinal separation during said non-cutting periodof the cutter and the slab of material being sliced.

6. In combination a uniformly longitudinally movable receiving conveyor,and a meat slicing machine having suitable mechanism for operating thehereinafter recited parts in the manner specified; which said slicingmachine has a transversely operating cutter normally functioning insynchronized relation with respect to said conveyor and adapted tosuccessively deliver slices of material as severed thereby to and uponsaid conveyor and in overlapping relationship in respect to each other,said slicing machine having feeding means operable along alongitudinally extending path and providing for feeding slabs of meat tobe sliced longitudinally to and under the shearing influence of saidcutter during the successive periods of normal cutting operations, meansfor imparting normal forward longitudinal feeding movement to saidfeeding means and in ,such a manner that the normal forward feedingmovement thereby imparted to the feeding means is in synchronism withthe movements of the cutter and the receiving conveyor, meansoperatively associated with the cutter and including a continuouslyrotating cam for effecting periodic non-cutting interrupting of thenormal forward feed of said feeding means towards said cutter andthereby the interrupting of the normal cutting operations and for asufficient length of time to ensure that a space is provided on thereceiving conveyor between the last slice delivered thereto precedingthe interrupting and the first slice delivered thereto following theinterrupting with the result that the slices on the receiving conveyorare in spaced grouped arrangement, and means operatively associated withthe cutter for effecting periodic relative movement in a longitudinaldirection and away from each other as between the cutter and the feedingmeans in order to ensure a longitudinal separation of the cutter and theslab of material being sliced during each said non-cutting orinterrupting period.

7. In combination a meat slicing machine and a uniformly andlongitudinally movable receiving conveyor arranged for receiving inoverlapping relationship meat slices periodically delivered thereto asthe result of periodic normal cutting operations carried out in and bysaid slicing machine, which said meat slicing machine comprises atransversely operating cutting element arranged at the forward deliveryend of the slicing machine, a constantly actuated cutter operating meansfor continuously actuating said cutting element in synchronized relationin respect to said conveyor, meat slab positioning and feeding meansmovable along a longitudinally extending path towards said cuttingelement for periodically normally feeding slabs of bacon towards andunder the cutting influence of said cutting element to effect successiveperiodic series of normal cutting operations of said slab, continuouslyactuated feed-operating means functionally associated with said slabpositioning and feeding means, which said feed operating meanscomprehends an intermediate means for imparting from a continuousmovable element thereof periodic normal forward feeding movement to themeat slab positioning and feeding means, each of which normal forwardfeeding movements is in synchronized relationship with respect to saidcutter and said receiving conveyor, which said feed operating means alsocomprehends a control means under the operative influence of acontlnuous movable cam thereof for ensuring periodic non-cuttinginterruption for a determined period as to each periodic normal feedingoperation, each of which non-cutting periods of interruption issufficiently long to ensure a spaced grouping of the meat slices asreceived by and upon said receiving conveyor.

8. In a combination as defined in and by the claim last preceding aslicing machine wherein a constantly actuated operating means asspecified in said last preceding claim has means associated therewithand controlled thereby for effecting, during each period of interruptionof the normal feed, relatively longitudinal separation as between thecutting element and the slab of meat undergoing successive periodicslicing operations because of the slab being positioned and fed by thepositioning and feeding means.

9. In a meat slicing machine including a cutter, drive means for saidcutter, an endless feed conveying means movably mounted in relation tosaid cutter, means for advancing said feed conveying means and thearticle supported thereon in synchronism with said cutter, cam actuatedmeans for periodically removing said feed conveyor and the supportedarticle from said outter and means for driving said cam, the drive meansfor said cam being so synchronized with the drive means for said cutterwhereby the cutter will operate to cut a plurality of slices from thearticle between periodical actuations of the cam.

10. In combination, a slicing machine including a cutter with a slicereceiving endless conveying means, drive means for said cutter and meansassociated with said slicing machine for grouping slices on said slicereceiving conveying means comprising a feed conveying means in feedingrelation with said cutter, means for advancing said feed conveying meansand the article supported thereon in synchronism with said cutter, camactuated means for periodically removing said feed conveying means andthe supported article from said cutter and drive means for said cam, thedrive means for the cam being so synchronized with the drive means fo'rthe cutter that the cutter will operate to cut a plurality of slicesfrom the article between periodical actuations of the cam by whichgroups of slices are successively spaced on the slice receivingconveying means.

11. In combination, a slicing machine including a cutter with a slicereceiving endless conveying means, drive means for said cutter and meansassociated with said slicing machine for grouping slices on said slicereceiving conveying means comprising a feeding means mounted in feedingrelation to said cutter, means for advancing said feeding means and thearticle supported thereby in synchronism with said cutter, cam actuatedmeans for periodically removing said feeding means and the supportedarticle from said cutter and drive means for said cam, the drive meansfor the cam being so synchronized with the drive means for the cutterthat the cutter will operate to cut a plurality of slices from thearticle between periodical actuations of the cam by which groups ofslices are sucessively spaced on the slice receiving conveying means.

12. In combination, a slicing machine including a cutter with a slicereceiving endless conveyor, drive means for said cutter and meansassociated with said slicing machine for grouping slices on said slicereceiving conveyor comprising an endless feed conveyor in feedingrelation with said cutter, means for advancing said endless feedconveyor .and the article supported thereon in synchronism with saidcutter, cam actuated means for periodically removing said feed conveyorand the article supported thereon in synchronism with said cutter, camactuated means for periodically removing said endless feed conveyor andthe supported article from said cutter and drive means for said cam, thedrive means for the cam being so synchronized with the drive means forthe cutter that the cutter will operate to cut a plurality of slicesfrom the article between periodical actuations of the cam by whichgroups of slices are successively spaced on the slice receivingconveyor.

13. In combination, a slicing machine including a cutter with a slicereceiving endless conveyor, drive means for said cutter and meansassociated with said slicing machine for grouping slices on said slicereceiving conveyor comprising an endless feed conveyor slidably mountedin relation to said cutter, means for advancing said endless feedconveyor and the article supported thereon in synchronism with saidcutter, cam

' actuated means for periodically slidably removing said feed conveyorand the supported article from and to said cutter and drive means forsaid cam, the drive means for the cam being so synchronized with thedrive means for the cutter that the cutter will operate to cut aplurality of slices from the article between periodical actuations ofthe cam by which groups of slices are successively spaced on the slicereceiving conveydr.

CHARLES T. WALTER.

